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-- THE ARCHIVE --

MALAYSIA

The Star, Kuala Lumpur, 6 January 2004

Caning mulled for illegal bike racers

KOTA KINABALU: Caning for bikers for illegal racing and
charging spectators for illegal assembly are among the two
proposed measures to curb the menace.

Police are studying the proposals as existing provisions are not good enough as a deterrent.

The Malaysian Youth Council (MBM) has even called for the
destruction of confiscated motorcycles used in illegal racing to
curb the proliferation of the activity.

Bukit Amans Internal Security and Public Order director
Comm Datuk Sedek Mohd Ali said the police would study a proposal
to impose caning on illegal motorcycle racers, who posed a danger
to other motorists.

He said any such proposals had to be passed by
Parliament.

Police will study if such a proposal could be an
effective deterrent, he told reporters after witnessing the
handing over of duties from outgoing Sabah Commissioner Deputy
Comm Datuk Ramli Yusuff to acting Deputy Comm Illyas
Ibrahim.

Comm Sedek congratulated Illyas for being the first Sabahan to
head the state police contingent. Ramli will take over as Pahang
police chief.

Comm Sedek was commenting on a proposal by Minister in the
Prime Ministers Department, Datuk Rais Yatim, that
motorcyclists caught for illegal racing be caned as a
deterrent.

In Penang, state police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Othman
Talib said police would round up spectators of illegal motorcycle
racing.

The presence of these spectators will prompt the illegal
racers to go even faster and at the same time organise even more
illegal racings.

We will also not hesitate to arrest them for illegal
gathering, he said when met at his office yesterday.

DCP Othman added that police operations are held regularly,
especially on weekends to prevent such illegal racing from
spreading and becoming a problem.

Illegal racing not only endangers the life of the
motorcyclist but also the lives of other road users.

Our investigations have revealed that these racers are
usually teenagers, he said.

Mohamed Saman, who ordered the jail term to run effective yesterday, said
Norhisham had failed to raise reasonable doubts in the prosecution's case.

The evidence given by the victim showed that she had
wanted to get down from the bus but the accused had pulled her,
causing her to fall on the floor of the bus where he raped her. I
have to take note that rape cases continue to become rampant like
the Canny Ong's case in Shah Alam, he said.

Pleading for leniency earlier, counsel Ravi Nekoo said
Norhisham  who is the sole breadwinner of his family 
had a wife, three children and an aged mother to care for.

Ravi said Norhisham, who is now a lorry driver, was earning
RM1,200 per month to support his family.

GUILTY: Norhisham being escorted out of the Ampang Sessions Court Wednesday.

He added that the court should consider that the accused was a
first-time offender and had a good attitude now.

DPP Azizzul Shariman Mat Yusof pressed for a deterrent
sentence, saying that the case was a statutory rape and the
victim, who was taking the bus to return home that night, had to
bear with the psychological impact and her education had been
affected.

Public interest should be given a priority as it is the
right of the people to have a safe life in our country. Please
impose a sentence which could send a strong message that the
Government and the court view rape crimes seriously, DPP
Azizzul said.

On May 16, 1996, Norhisham had claimed trial to raping the
15-year-old student inside the bus at the last stop in Taman
Muda, Ampang at about 9pm on April 17, 1996.

On Nov 6, 2001, Norhisham was ordered to enter his defence
where he later opted to give a sworn testimony.

Daily Express, Kota Kinabalu, 16 January 2004

Cane and deportation for 168 illegals

Kota Kinabalu: A total of 168 foreigners including seven women who admitted to entering the State illegally were jailed between two and three months on Thursday.

134 of them appeared before Sessions Court judge Datuk Nurchaya Arshad while the other 22 and three turned up before Sessions Judge Caroline Majanil and Sessions Judge Ravinthran Paramaguru respectively.

The men were also ordered to be caned once while the women were spared.

An Indonesian man who was arrested on Dec 4 last year at the Karamunsing area here was sentenced to three months’ jail for overstaying in the State.

According to prosecuting officer, the foreigners, comprising Filipinos and Indonesians, were arrested at separate locations in the city, Sipitang, Kota Belud and Papar between end of December last year and early this month.

Meanwhile, the court grounds was [sic] swarmed with the relatives or friends of the illegal immigrants on Thursday morning.

The illegal immigrants were escorted by police and General Operation Force (GOF).

New Straits Times, Kuala Lumpur, 22 January 2004

Divided on public flogging

By The NST News Team

Malaysians were divided on a Cabinet Minister’s proposal to publicly flog child rapists. While a large number of politicians and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), reflecting the outrage felt by Malaysians over two child rape-murders in the last fortnight, supported public flogging, an almost equal number of moderating voices, including medical experts, cautioned against being overly emotional.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim yesterday said he would propose to the Cabinet to amend the law to allow public flogging of child rapists.

The Bar Council has opposed such moves, saying there was no proof that public flogging would reduce crimes against children.

"You can flog all you want. But will you be getting to the heart of the problem?" Dr Teoh said the nation was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder in a metaphorical sense.

He said while it was important to highlight the issue, it was equally important not to get emotional when we should be reacting rationally.

Johor Baru's Sultanah Aminah Hospital head of psychiatry, Dr Abdul Kadir Abu Bakar, said education, especially that involving parents with children, was the best way to resolve such crimes in society.

"There is no sure-proof deterrent against sex crimes against children," he said.

Many others interviewed, however, were more emotional.

In backing the call by Rais, they also suggested other modes of punishment such as castration, public hangings and some, like Puteri Umno head Datuk Azalina Othman, proposed televised floggings.

Azalina said: "It's a heinous crime. Rapists should not only be flogged publicly but also sentenced to death." The murders of two 10-year-old girls, Hasirawati Saridi in Menggatal, Sabah, and, Nurul Huda Abdul Ghani in Tanjung Kupang, Johor, sparked outrage, with letters to newspapers and Internet websites demanding the toughest action against those who rape and murder children.

George said: "I think it is a good idea. Public humiliation would make the criminals think twice before indulging in such inhumane acts." But Lee had a caveat to his support for public flogging. He said it was normal that every time such an incident happened, there was public outcry calling for stiffer punishments. "The question is whether we are prescribing the right treatment for the sickness," he said. "Are we doing enough to prevent the disease?" Equally angry, but not in support of public flogging, are Jemaah Islah Malaysia president Zaid Kamaruddin, Human Rights Commission of Malaysia Commissioner Professor Datuk Hamdan Adnan, Johor Consumers' Association vice-president S. Gunapati and several other ordinary people interviewed by the New Straits Times.

Suhakam's Hamdan: "It's an emotional moment for many of us, but we must look at things in perspective." Gunapati said public flogging ought to be studied in detail because it had far-reaching implications.

Security Guard Gets 20 Years' Jail, 24 Strokes For Rape Of Nurul Huda

EXCESSIVE VIOLENCE… Security guard Mohd Abbas Danus Baksan, 47, was today sentenced to the maximum 20 years' jail and ordered to be given 24 strokes of the rotan, after he pleaded guilty to raping Nurul Huda Gani, 10, at the security booth of TNB sub-station in Tanjung Kupang on Jan 17. A
post-mortem report indicated that the victim died due to strangulation.

JOHOR BAHARU, Jan 26 (Bernama) -- A security guard was sentenced to the maximum 20 years' jail and ordered to be given 24 strokes of the rotan by the Sessions Court, here Monday for raping 10-year-old Nurul Huda Gani at the Tenaga Nasional Berhad main intake sub-station in Tanjung Kupang on Jan 17.

Mohamed Abbas Danus Baksan, 47, pleaded guilty to raping Nurul Huda, a Standard Four pupil of Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Tiram Duku, at the guardhouse of the sub-station in Kampung Pekajang between 9.20 am and 1 pm on that day.

In passing sentence, judge Abu Bakar Katar said that the court had to take public interest into account even though Mohamed Abbas had entered a guilty plea.

He said that Mohamed Abbas had committed a very serious offence and the sentence meted out should serve as a deterrence to him and to others.

The judge said that the court had also considered the fact that he had used excessive force on the girl and had caused trauma among her family members and also the community.

Abu Bakar also said that Mohamed Abbas, who has nine previous convictions, had also not shown any remorse over his actions.

Earlier, Deputy Public Prosecutor Teo Say Eng said that the maximum imprisonment and whipping should be imposed on Mohamed Abbas for committing a heinous crime where a substantial degree of violence was used.

Teo urged the court to impose a sentence which would deter him and others from committing the offence in the future.

The court was earlier told that Nurul Huda was reported missing and her family members launched a search party when she failed to return after leaving the house on an errand at about 8.50 am.

They had also gone to the guardhouse where they made inquiries but Mohamed Abbas denied having seen her.

They sought his permission to conduct a search of the vicinity of the guardhouse but was told by him that according to police instructions, only their officers could be allowed entry.

Police permission was later granted but they were still denied entry, prompting the police personnel to climb over the gate. A scuffle ensued but they later found Nurul Huda in the toilet of the guardhouse, naked and unconscious.

New Straits Times, Kuala Lumpur, 26 January 2004

'Make rape-related laws more effective'

The laws pertaining to rape and child rape were too basic and ought to be
amended for more effective prosecution, former Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Lamin Yunus said.

He said the laws governing rape of adults and children (under 16) did not provide for offences such as gangrapes and rapes that led to death.

"As far as rape (as defined under the Penal Code) is concerned, it does not envisage death, so it is up to the judge to mete out punishment depending on the degree of grievances inflicted," he told the New Straits Times on Friday.

"There is no provision for gangrape either, whereas in India there is a provision for this offence following amendments to its Penal Code in 1983, which provide a minimum of seven years' jail." Lamin, 68, said it was his opinion that the five to 20 years' jail sentence and whipping provided for under the Penal Code was insufficient in the case of the two 10-year-old girls, Nurul Huda Abdul Ghani and Hasirawati Saridi, who were raped and murdered.

"A sentence of between five and 20 years' jail is inappropriate. My suggestion is that the laws should carry the death penalty for those who commit rapes that lead to death." He said in a child rape case where the victim died, a mandatory death sentence must be provided for under the law.

He said that if there was a provision for the death sentence in such a case, then it would not be necessary to frame two separate charges, one for rape, another for murder.

He said it would also solve the knotty problem of proving the intent to murder as the rapist might have had no intention of killing the victim, but caused death in the course of committing the rape.

"If it ends in death, be it gang-rape or not, then the mandatory death sentence must be provided for." He added that where the gangrape of a child did not result in death, a longer custodial sentence, preferably imprisonment for the term of the natural life, should be provided for under the law.

Castration, he said, was "not a solution". When released back into society, castrated men could seek vengeance in other ways.

Lamin was also not in favour of public flogging, "which is provided for in Islam, the purpose of which is to bring shame to the convicts and to serve as a lesson to the public".

"In Islam the person to be flogged has to be clothed.

"This is contrary to whipping in prison, where the convicted man is stripped naked as the whole idea is to inflict pain on him for having caused pain to his victim." Lamin said existing laws must be amended. "Although the amendments will not be retrospective, the most important thing is that there will be provisions for such offences in the future."

Amended law coming into effect soon to whip senior citizen rapists

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Dr Rais
Yatim said the amendment, passed last year, had yet to be
gazetted although it had obtained the consent of the Yang
di-Pertuan Agong.

"I have directed the Attorney General's Chambers today to
gazette the royal consent fast so that this new law can be signed
by the Executive and be enforced as soon as possible," he
said.

Speaking after giving away hampers and souvenirs to Indian estate
workers at a hall near here, Rais, who is also Jelebu MP, added
that convicted rapists above 50 years of age would also face
whipping once the ruling came into effect.

"Previously, senior citizens convicted of rape were spared
the rotan, but this time around, they will not get away. The law
will come into effect on the day it is gazetted, which I hope,
will be very soon." Under the amendment, convicted rapists
will face jail terms of between 15 and 30 years, and whipping.

"Previously, rape cases and incestuous acts, if proven in
court, did not entail this kind of sentencing." Rais said
the number of lashes to be meted out to convicted senior-citizen
rapists, however, would depend on doctors' advice.

The amendment was due to the Government's concern over the rising
number of rape cases involving senior citizens. Rais said bail
should not be offered in view of the alarming incidence of rape
in the country.

He added that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had
directed the Education Ministry, Women and Family Development
Ministry and the National Unity and Social Development Ministry
to embark on integrated programmes to minimise the problem.

On the call by the Malaysian Youth Council for convicted rapists
to be denied appeal, Rais said it was a positive suggestion.

"The outcry on rape cases was so widespread that they even
sent me personal letters and e-mails. The majority of the people
is in favour of the severe punishment of rapists." He said
the Government would consider the proposal.